Broomfield, Colorado – January 24, 2017. Jérôme Michelet, associate director for Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a program of One Earth Future (OEF), will discuss piracy during the worldwide open debate event, NIGHT OF IDEAS (Nuit des Idées), in Paris on January 26.

Michelet joins other leading piracy experts to discuss the re-emergence of piracy in the 21st Century during the “Pirates of all Seas” session at the Public Information Library in the Pompidou Center (French National Library).

Michelet will discuss how only three months ago, OBP and its global partners were instrumental in negotiating the release of 26 hostages who had been held by Somali pirates for more than four years. He will also share insights on the rise of kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea which is causing concern in the maritime community, and he will discuss data from research conducted by OBP for its 2016 State of Piracy report, due to be released later this year.

“Much of the general public does not realize that even today sailors and fishermen are captured, tortured and sometimes killed by pirates,” said Michelet. “This is the hidden cost of the growth in global trade and fishing.”

The piracy discussion is part of the NIGHT OF IDEAS series, coordinated by the Institut Français, occurring simultaneously in 40 cities worldwide, such as Dakar, Los Angeles, New York, Brussels, Buenos Aires and Katmandu. The series brings together intellectuals, artists and researchers to debate various topics around this year’s theme “A World in Common.” The Paris session on piracy is free and open to the public. It starts at 19:00, on the first level of the Pompidou Center, Rue Saint-Martin (Piazza), 75004 Paris. It will be broadcast live via http://www.bpi.fr/agenda/nuit-de-la-piraterie.

About OEF and OBP: OEF is a self-funded, private operating foundation seeking to create a more peaceful world through collaborative, data-driven initiatives. We focus on programs that enhance maritime cooperation, create sustainable jobs in fragile economies and our research actively contributes to thought leadership on global issues. As an operating foundation, One Earth Future provides strategic, financial and administrative support allowing our programs to focus deeply on complex problems and to create constructive alternatives to violent conflict. OBP was launched in 2010 as OEF’s first implementation program to encourage and support the development of a long-term, sustainable and peaceful solution to maritime piracy through engaging all relevant maritime stakeholders.